Natural flavonoid luteolin promotes the differentiation of porcine myoblasts through activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling

Abstract

A key step in the manufacturing of cultured meat is to produce myotubes by induced myogenic differentiation. The development of effective, low-cost, and food-safe components that promote the in vitro differentiation of myoblasts is essential for the industrialization of cultured meat. Flavonoids are a class of plant secondary metabolites with various biological activities, but their effects on the regulation of myoblast behaviors are a lack of study. In this study, we selected four representative flavonoids including luteolin, chrysin, apigenin, and genistein, and investigated their effects on porcine myoblasts in the aspects of proliferation, migration, and differentiation. The results showed that four flavonoids all had relatively low cell toxicity but weak ability to promote the proliferation of porcine myoblasts. A positive effect of luteolin was observed in the migration and differentiation of porcine myoblasts, as indicated by improved migration rate and fusion index, as well as upregulated expression of Myogenin and MyHC. Pharmacological inhibition of PI3K activity attenuated the efficacy of luteolin on porcine myoblasts, and further analysis showed that luteolin increased the phosphorylation of PI3K, Akt, and mTOR, indicating the activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway. In conclusion, these findings showed that luteolin promoted the migration and differentiation of porcine myoblast via the activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling, providing biological evidence for its application in cultured meat production.